Stand up paddle surfing in the mountains of North Carolina

George Vanderbilt never imagined he would have surfers cruising through his property when he chose to build America's most famous mansion on the outskirts of Asheville, NC. He also did not realize the impact on outdoor recreation he would make when he donated thousands of acres to what is now Pisgah national forest.
This past weekend we got to experience both the Biltmore and Pisgah National Forest from Vanderbilt's perspective, but with a twist.
We went to Asheville and brought not only the customary mountain bikes, but also two stand up paddle boards. The idea was to ride singletrack in Pisgah one day and paddle a class I stretch of the French Broad river the next.
We can climb up to the top of the mountain before plunging downhill on our mountain bikes. We could not, however, paddle 7 miles up river in order to flow down river. After a little bit of research we found just what we needed.
Asheville Outdoor Center is a great outfitter that provides shuttles up river on the French Broad. The staff is super nice and very knowledgeable at the same time. They provided us with valuable instruction (very needed despite our experience surfing stand up paddle boards in the ocean) and very, very important safety tips,as rivers are a lot more dangerous than the ocean - the first ever stand paddle boarding fatality was on a river.
Running the French Broad on paddle boards was an amazing experience. We were able to sprint, cruise leisurely, go down rapids, SUP yoga, surf standing waves and even have a picnic:)
Big thanks to CB Surfshop for the amazing C4 ten-thirty paddleboard and Asheville Outdoor center
We highly recommend this trip...and so does Jennifer Lawrence from "Hunger Games"!
(Photo below taken by Asheville Outdoor Center when Jennifer Lawrence and film crew went paddling with them)

Getting ready to begin

 Shuttle vehicle

Surfing small river wave

Another wave, small but very fun

100 year old barn in the background. Part of Biltmore

Biltmore house in the background

 

Another Mountain trip..

This past April we decided to go back to the mountains. 

The Forecast couldn't make up it's mind, calling for snow but also for warm temperatures??? Not knowing for sure what we were going to find, we decided to bring snow gear and bikes. Cool thing is, we got to use both. 

We had several inches of snow the first half of the trip and nice sunny skies with warm temperatures for the second half. I don't remember ever being able to snowboard one day and mountain bike in shorts and a jersey the next - Too much fun!

The picture below sums it all up. The previous day we were playing in those snow capped mountains (visible in the picture, across from the lake) This day, temperatures were in the 70's and trails were dry.

Super Downhill Mountain Bike racing

We sure don't race enough to be a mountain bike team...Our last race was in the fall of 2011. As fun as it was, we just haven't had the time to train for another race. When a new type of race was announced at Paris Mtn. South Carolina I knew I had to sign up. The race was supposed to be "mainly downhill", known as a  Super D. How hard could that be?
Raceday consisted of several shuttle runs to the top of the mountain for pre running and a really fun downhill course. I was placed in the "masters' category and placed mid pack in the end. The climb before the downhill proved to be too much for me.
Thinking the race would be mainly downhill, my training consisted of mainly cruising trails and hitting jumps, etc. I did not think I would have to climb- To my surprise, I did. Fitter "older" riders just flat out killed everyone, as their overall fitness prevailed, even on a "mainly downhill" course.

2 lessons were learned that day:

- Even downhill racing requires training and aerobic fitness.
- Older cyclists rule. Had I raced with the "young guys" I would have come in second place...40 is the new 25!

Enjoy the pics!

This is the first thing I saw when I got to the race.

Loading the shuttle truck

Pre race meeting

On the way to the top of the ridge. I didn't think I would have to pedal once I got to the top. I was wrong..

One of the Pros. He is going a lot faster than it shows in the pic

Had a great time and will be back next year!